Hammer of Doom Festival
Hammer of Doom Festival is a festival event held in Würzburg, Germany. The first two editions were held in 2009 with each year hosting two events until becoming a yearly fest in 2012 onward. While the festival hosts many variations of the doom metal genre, Hammer of Doom tends to favor Gothic Doom, Classic Doom and Traditional Doom. The festival has also been notable for hosting special marquee performances and in the case of several doom bands, their first ever performances Europe. To date the festival has held fourteen editions over ten years, typically held as an "all-dayer" event on a single stage. Almost every edition of the festival has been hosted at the Posthalle. Hammer of Doom I: 2009 The inaugural Hammer of Doom Festival was hosted at the B-Hof in Würzburg, Germany. Hosting six bands over the course of a single day, the inaugural event was on 31 January 2009./ Festival Hopper Hammer of Doom II: 2009 The second edition of Hammer of Doom would be hosted on 17 October 2009 at Posthalle Würzburg./ Festival Hopper Notably this edition would feature Albert Witchfinder performing with Spiritus Mortis and a rare appearance by Death Row, featuring the lineup of Swaney, Hasselvander and Griffin. However, Griffin would suffer vocal issues and Eric Wagner would fill in on vocals. Hammer of Doom III: 2010 The third edition of Hammer of Doom would be held at Posthalle on 6 February 2010, notably featuring nine bands on the bill. This edition would be headlined by Saint Vitus and a special all-doom set by death metal/death-doom band Asphyx./ Festival Hopper Hammer of Doom IV: 2010 The fourth edition of Hammer of Doom would be held at Posthalle on 23 October 2010. This edition would feature Solitude Aeturnus as the headliner and notably feature the live debut of the Swedish rock/metal band Ghost. Hammer of Doom V: 2011 The fifth edition of Hammer of Doom would be held at Posthalle on 16 April 2011, featuring ten bands. Notably this showcase would feature the first ever European appearances for Blood Farmers and Argus. Atlantean Kodex would host their first ever live show with their original singer Markus Becker. While Heaven Wept's performance at Hammer of Doom also served as their release party for their album Fear of Infinity. Lastly, Pentagram served as the headliner, celebrating their 40th anniversary.Hammer of Doom Facebook Hammer of Doom VI: 2011 The sixth edition of Hammer of Doom would be hosted at Posthalle in Würzburg on 28 and 29 October 2011. Notably this would mark a turning point for the festival as this would be the first edition to span two days, initially billing the first day as "Epic Night" and the second as "Doomsday". It would also be the last year the festival would host two events in a calendar year and the last event held in October before the Festival would settle on hosting annually in November. This event would notably see Manilla Road perform a special 150-minute set and headlined by The Devil's Blood doing a special "pre-release" show for the band's second album The Thousandfold Epicentre.Hammer of Doom Facebook Hammer of Doom VII: 2012 The seventh edition of the Hammer of Doom Festival would be hosted at Posthalle on 9 and 10 November 2012, the first time the festival would maintain a tradition of hosting the festival in November. Featuring fourteen bands over two days, the event would notably feature the second European show of Chicago-based doom metal band The Skull and a headlining appearance by Pentagram.Hammer of Doom Facebook Hammer of Doom VIII: 2013 The eighth edition of Hammer of Doom Festival would be hosted at Posthalle on 15 and 16 November 2013. Featuring thirteen bands over two days, notably this edition would be headlined by While Heaven Wept in what would be their 25th Anniversary performance.Hammer of Doom Facebook Hammer of Doom IX: 2014 The 2014 edition of Hammer of Doom would initially be announced on 18 April 2014, announcing seven of the fifteen acts.Hammer of Doom Facebook The full lineup would be revealed, one band at a time, through the summer leading up to the event at Posthalle on 14 and 15 November 2014. Notably Trouble would perform a special 30th Anniversary show doing the entirety of Psalm 9. Saint Vitus would also perform in lieu of their 25th anniversary and perform all of Born Too Late with other songs. However on 11 November, vocalist Scott Weinrich would be detained and arrested in Norway for possession of illicit substances, ultimately deported back to the United States the next day. This would force Dave Chandler and various guests to handle vocal duties for their performance.Hammer of Doom Facebook Hammer of Doom X: 2015 The tenth edition of Hammer of Doom Festival would initially be announced on 19 January 2015 with the first two bands announced being Swedish doom band The Order of Israfel and Canadian band Funeral Circle in their first ever European appearance.Hammer of Doom Facebook By 27 October 2015 the full lineup would be announced, though Funeral Circle would drop off.Hammer of Doom Festival Hammer of Doom X would be held at Posthalle on 20 and 21 November 2015. Hammer of Doom XI: 2016 The eleventh edition of Hammer of Doom Festival was held at Posthalle on 18 and 19 November 2016. The initial announcement would be held on 11 May 2016, announcing the first four of thirteen bands, including The Skull and Witch Mountain (Though Witch Mountain would drop off.).Hammer of Doom Facebook More bands would be announced, leading up to the announcement of Saint Vitus with original singer Scott Reagers.Hammer of Doom Facebook Notably this edition of the festival would branch into implementing black metal bands with subtle doom elements such as Friday headliner Primodial and a special set from Samael showcasing Ceremony of Opposites. Hammer of Doom XII: 2017 The twelfth edition of Hammer of Doom Festival would be hosted at Posthalle on 17 and 18 November 2017. The festival would be announced initially on 30 November 2016 with Lucifer's Friend, Naevus and The Temple announced as the first three bands.Hammer of Doom Festival In the next few months, several more names would be announced such as Cirith Ungol, Count Raven,Hammer of Doom Festival a rare live performance by The Doomsday Kingdom, Warning (performing Watching From a Distance),Hammer of Doom Facebook and Time Lord: A tribute to Terry Jones featuring members of Pagan Altar.Hammer of Doom Facebook Hammer of Doom XIII: 2018 The thirteenth edition of Hammer of Doom Festival would be announced on 21 December 2017, announcing three of the fourteen bands set to perform.Hammer of Doom Facebook On 17 April 2018 it would be announced that While Heaven Wept would return to Hammer of Doom for their farewell tour and their final performance in Germany.Hammer of Doom Facebook By 2 November 2018 the full lineup would be arranged and announced.Hammer of Doom Facebook Unorthodox was initially intended for the festival but dropped off by 11 November.Hammer of Doom Facebook Hammer of Doom XIII would be hosted at Posthalle on 16 and 17 November 2018. Hammer of Doom XIV: 2019 The fourteenth edition of Hammer of Doom Festival was initially announced on 29 January 2019, initially announcing two bands: Russian Epic Doom Metal band Scald in their first ever performance outside of Russia and German doom band Mirror of Deception.Hammer of Doom Facebook On 5 February 2019 the band would announce Uli Jon Roth, performing a hand-picked curated setlist via Hammer of Doom, also featuring Scorpions drummer Rudy Lenner.Hammer of Doom Facebook On 21 June 2019 the festival would be up to thirteen bands over the two days.Hammer of Doom Facebook Hammer of Doom XIV is set for 15 and 16 November 2019 at Posthalle. In September 2019 it would be announced that Trouble had dropped off, intended to perform Psalm 9 for it's 35th anniversary due to various conflicts. The Skull would be announced as their replacement, performing an all Trouble set including the entirety of Psalm 9. Hammer of Doom XV: 2020 The 2020 edition of Hammer of Doom had been announced in September 2019, set for 13 and 14 November 2020 at Posthalle Würzburg.Hammer of Doom Facebook Event External Links *German Wikipedia on Hammer of Doom References Category:Event Category:Festival Category:Würzburg Category:Germany Category:Doom Metal Category:Traditional Doom Category:Gothic Doom Category:Hard Rock